Former Memphis principal will lead iZone, turnaround work for Shelby County Schools

Former Memphis principal Antonio Burt, shown here with kindergarten teacher Britney Batson, helped lead Ford Road Elementary School to double-digit proficiency growth in 2013. Burt has returned to Memphis as assistant superintendent for Shelby County Schools.

A former turnaround principal is returning to Memphis as an assistant superintendent overseeing the Innovation Zone and other school turnaround work for Shelby County Schools, a spokeswoman confirmed Monday.

Antonio Burt started his new job last week under Chief of Schools Sharon Griffin, for whom he worked previously as a principal in the iZone that she supervised. He’ll take the helm of the nationally known turnaround program and also provide oversight for the district’s other schools performing in the state’s bottom 5 percent. Those include some schools receiving new resources this year under Superintendent Dorsey Hopson’s new plan to invest in struggling schools instead of just closing them.

PHOTO: Kayleigh Skinner

Sharon Griffin has been chief of schools since her promotion from regional superintendent of the Innovation Zone.

The appointment is the first big hire under Griffin, who was promoted in January to supervise and support all of the district’s principals and teachers. It also continues a reshuffling of top academic positions since Griffin’s promotion and the departure of academics chief Heidi Ramirez a month later.

The district has no plans to replace Ramirez at this time, said spokeswoman Natalia Powers.

Burt was an iZone principal at Ford Road Elementary School until his departure in 2015 to work for the New Teacher Project, a Brooklyn, N.Y.-based nonprofit organization that helps to recruit, train and place effective teachers in high-need districts. He came back to Memphis soon after to work for the state-run Achievement School District, though only for six months, according to his Linkedin page.

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For the last year and a half, Burt was director of school transformation at Florida’s Pinellas County Schools, whose low-performing schools were analyzed in the Tampa Bay Times’ award-winning series Failure Factories. He had been hired to lead a new “transformation zone” which, similar to the iZone model, provides extra resources to struggling schools.

Burt began his education career in 2003 with the former Memphis City Schools and in 2012 took the helm at Ford Road, where he gained national attention for his turnaround work and became a champion of principal autonomy.

“We are very excited have have Dr. Burt back in our district serving our highest-need schools,” a district spokeswoman said. “We know that with his proven track record in school turnaround, we will continue to move toward our goal of providing high-quality school options for every child.”

Shelby County Schools has reclaimed a Memphis school building that formerly housed a state-run charter school that just moved across town.

This week, the former campus of Raleigh-Egypt Middle School began housing middle schoolers under the local district in Memphis.

District leaders posted a video Wednesday on Facebook showing students returning to the building that last year housed a charter school managed by Memphis Scholars.

“They did not stay in the building, so now Shelby County Schools has that building again, and middle schoolers have their own space,” said Shari Jones Meeks, principal of Raleigh-Egypt High School, which added middle school grades last year.

“We’ve been here every day this week trying to get our classrooms ready,” added Anna Godwin, a middle school science teacher. “It’s awesome, a lot of space. The kids are going to feel right at home.”

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The change brings the school full circle after a year-long tug-of-war over students and facilities with the state-run Achievement School District, which took control of Raleigh-Egypt Middle last summer because of chronic low performance.

After the takeover, the local district expanded grades next door at Raleigh-Egypt High School in an effort to retain students. It worked. This spring, the charter organization got the state’s permission to move its under-enrolled school 16 miles away, where Memphis Scholars already operates an elementary school under Tennessee’s turnaround district.

Even though middle schoolers are returning to their old building, Raleigh-Egypt High School will remain one school with grades 6-12 and one administration, according to Michelle Stuart, facility planning manager for the district.

Klondike Elementary was closed by the ASD when its operator, Gestalt Community Schools, decided to exit its two North Memphis schools because of low enrollment. The ASD approved Frayser Community Schools to step in as the new operator at Humes Middle, but couldn’t secure one for Klondike.

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While Shelby County Schools has no plan to resurrect Klondike at this time, it will continue to lease space to Perea Preschool, a private Christian school that will serve more than 160 children in a building designed for more than 600. Perea also has applied to open an elementary charter school at Klondike under Shelby County Schools, though that application was initially denied.

On the opposite side of Memphis, the building formerly occupied as a middle school by charter operator KIPP will be listed for sale, according to Stuart.

The former Memphis City school building was leased to KIPP beginning in 2014 by Shelby County Schools. Last December, KIPP leaders decided to close it too, citing low enrollment and the school’s remote location.

Tennessee is bringing in some new blood to lead its turnaround district after cutting its workforce almost in half and repositioning the model as an intervention of last resort for the state’s chronically struggling schools.

While Malika Anderson remains as superintendent of the Achievement School District, she’ll have two lieutenants who are new to the ASD’s mostly charter-based turnaround district, as well as two others who have been part of the work in the years since its 2011 launch.

The hires stand in contrast to the original ASD leadership team, which was heavy with education reformers who came from outside of Tennessee or Memphis. And that’s intentional, Anderson said Friday as she announced the new lineup with Education Commissioner Candice McQueen.

“It is critical in this phase of the ASD that we are learning from the past … and have leaders who are deeply experienced in Tennessee,” Anderson said.

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Verna Ruffin Chief academic officer

PHOTO: Submitted

Verna Ruffin

Duties: She’ll assume oversight of the district’s five direct-run schools in Memphis called Achievement Schools, a role previously filled by former executive director Tim Ware, who did not reapply. She’ll also promote collaboration across Achievement Schools and the ASD’s charter schools.

Last job: Superintendent of Jackson-Madison County School District since 2013

Her story: More than 30 years of experience in education as a teacher, principal, director of secondary curriculum, assistant superintendent and superintendent in Louisiana, Texas, Oklahoma and Tennessee. At Jackson-Madison County, Ruffin oversaw a diverse student body and implemented a K-3 literacy initiative to promote more rigorous standards.

Farae Wolfe Executive director of operations

Duties: Human resources, technology and operations

Current job: Program director for the Community Youth Career Development Center in Cleveland, Miss.

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Her story: Wolfe has been city manager and human resources director for Cleveland, Miss., where she led a health and wellness initiative that decreased employee absenteeism due to minor illness by 20 percent. Her work experience in education includes overseeing parent and community relations for a Mississippi school district, according to her LinkedIn profile.

Leaders continuing to work with the state turnaround team are:

Lisa Settle Chief performance officer

PHOTO: Achievement Schools

Lisa Settle

Duties: She’ll oversee federal and state compliance for charter operators and direct-run schools.

Last job: Chief of schools for the direct-run Achievement Schools since June 2015

Her story: Settle was co-founder and principal of Cornerstone Prep-Lester Campus, the first charter school approved by the ASD in Memphis. She also has experience in writing and reviewing curriculum in her work with the state’s recent Standards Review Committee.

Bobby White Executive director of external affairs

PHOTO: ASD

Bobby White

Duties: He’ll continue his work to bolster the ASD’s community relations, which was fractured by the state’s takeover of neighborhood schools in Memphis when he came aboard in April 2016.

Last job: ASD chief of external affairs

His story: A Memphis native, White previously served as chief of staff and senior adviser for Memphis and Shelby County Mayor A.C. Wharton, as well as a district director for former U.S. Rep. Harold Ford Jr.

A new team for a new era

The restructuring of the ASD and its leadership team comes after state officials decided to merge the ASD with support staff for its Achievement Schools. All 59 employees were invited in May to reapply for 30 jobs, some of which are still being filled.

The downsizing was necessary as the state ran out of money from the federal Race to the Top grant that jump-started the turnaround district in 2011 and has sustained most of its work while growing to 33 schools at its peak.

“Overall, this new structure will allow the ASD to move forward more efficiently,” McQueen said Friday, “and better positions the ASD to support the school improvement work we have outlined in our ESSA plan …”

In the next phase, school takeovers will not be as abrupt as the first ones that happened in Memphis in 2012, prompting angry protests from teachers and parents and outcry from local officials. Local districts will have three years to use their own turnaround methods before schools can be considered for takeover.

It’s uncertain where the ASD will expand next, but state officials have told Hamilton County leaders that it’s one of several options on the table for five low-performing schools in Chattanooga.